Starring in a Cannes competition film, the model isn’t just a pretty face. Francois Ozon compares her to Charlotte Rampling

In Francois Ozon’s competition contender “Young and Beautiful,” 22-year-old Marine Vacth may be as enigmatic as her character, a well-to-do young woman who finds pleasure in sharing intimate moments with complete strangers. A top model who’s lined up contracts with a number of fashion designers — from Chloe to Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent — Vacth, a native of Lyon, decided to shake up her smooth, cool image by taking the lead role in a film that raises disturbing questions about teenage sexuality.

RISING STAR

Ozon’s pic is the first for Vacth. But even before the film was selected for Cannes, Vacth was on every discerning talent agents’ hot list; she’s now repped by Gaul’s biggest talent agency, Artmedia. The tyro thesp said she was drawn to acting after experiencing the rush of working on Cedric
Klapisch’s “My Piece of the Pie.”

NEW SKILLS

“Acting demands an engagement that’s more complex and richer than modeling. One thing modeling has taught me, however, is to work with my body in a familiar way.”

INSPIRATIONS

“Gena Rowlands, Jeanne Moreau, Katharine Hepburn, Michel Piccoli, Al Pacino, Charlotte Rampling are among the people I admire the most, not only for the choices they’ve made but because they emanate an authenticity that touches me and inspires me.”

BREAKTHROUGH ROLE

“What seduced me in my character in ‘Young and Beautiful’is her silence, the distance she cultivates in her relationships. She prostitutes herself unapologetically, and does it for the same reason she would do drugs: to find her truth.”

DIVERSIONS

Don’t expect Vacth to rock the Cannes party scene. Her hobbies reading and swimming.

TESTIMONIAL

“The moment I met her, I was struck by an impression of extreme fragility and at the same time, strength. Filming her reminded me of filming Charlotte Rampling in ‘Under the Sun,’” said Francois Ozon. “There’s something going on beneath the surface. Her obvious physical beauty holds a
mystery, a secret. It arouses our curiosity; we want to know more.”